From pole to pole : a tale of the sea

William Gordon Stables (1840-1910) trained as a doctor and served on whaling ships, and later joined the Royal Navy as a surgeon. He saw service in both Arctic and Antarctic waters. Stables was invalided out of the Navy service about 1874. He then turned his hand to writing -primarily boys' books - and also contributed regular health advice columns (under the pseudonym 'Medicus') to the Girls Own Paper and the Boys Own Paper. This advice invariably involved getting more fresh air or hopping into a cold bath. His output extended to over a 100 books or about four a year. His fondness for the outdoor life led him to design the first 'leisure trailer' which was built for him by the Bristol Carriage Company in 1880. Stables was also an expert on dogs; he acted as a judge at dog shows and wrote both fiction and non-fiction books about the animals.

From Pole to Pole was written in 1886 and draws on Stables' wide experience of nautical matters and of the ocean. In the story, the ship Albatross sails first to northern seas where the young hero Jack kills his first polar bear, encounters narwhal and walrus and visits an Inuit village in Greenland. When the ship heads south it stays only fleetingly in Antarctic waters, as the captain is wary of the many large icebergs and a storm threatens. The icebergs and sailing conditions in Antarctic waters are well described. Later the ship is wrecked and the crew and passengers ward off fierce natives before a sudden rescue saves them from their plight.

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